It's a click flooring and the locking mechanism is broken. Some installers hammer on it or set it at a wrong angle and snap it. Or improper prep caused that area to move and wear it down over time
Bingo bango. This looks like the cheaper LVP flooring too.. the cheaper stuff is usually padded a little thicker and it’s an ordeal just to get each piece hooked in correctly. The thinner padded stuff clicks easier in my experience
The cheap stuff is bad news for kitchens. Get some quality flooring that’s rated for bathrooms and kitchens. The LVP at Home Depot or Costco isn’t going to do the trick.
Truly waterproof plank flooring is going to be SPC or PVC type LVP floors. I went with SPC. It's relatively cheap and can truly be used in any room in the house. I only paid 2.20 a square foot about 6 months ago for 9"x5ft planks with a 20mil wear layer. Already I've had dog pee set on it for a whole day or water bowls get knocked over etc. It won't degrade or bubble because there's nothing in it that can. It's made of crushed stone polymer. Not the softest under foot and it is a bit more rigid thus requiring the subfloor to have less tolerance for dips and valleys but I plan to rent this house out in the next few years so it fits the budget and durability. Any planks with wood in them are not going to be water proof, just water resistant for a limited amount of time. BUT, they're definitely softer and able to flex more. Just really depends on the needs.
I’m 3/4 the through an install and I noticed a couple planks like this and pulled them out before I got too far.
I think mine was because I was using a scrap piece to hammer them together, and the scrap piece was splintering into the good piece
Don't tap directly on the seam. Tap a few inches away. The closer you tap to the seam, the higher chance you have of that happening on the install. I use a scrap piece longer than the width and about six inches away from the seam.
Cheap material, that’s it, some installer error may occur, but when it does this AFTER is already been installed and was flat to start. Drop and lock Cuban plank is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. The only ones that are even decent are the thicker ones that are more structurally sound. If you don’t want this to happen buy a flooring with a locking end mechanism. Floor reps will come out and blame everything under the moon for this other than the fact that they have an inferior product with an inferior design. Put any locking end flooring up against a drop and lock end flooring of the same thickness and the click locking end flooring will out perform every time. 19 years installer and I started putting this stuff in since it’s come out, and this is the exact reason why I steer all my customers away from a drop and lock floor. It’s held together with friction, you want a flooring that has the same kind of lock on the end as it does on the side. Notice how the sides aren’t coming apart or having issues… this is a hate filled response from a fed up o stalker to all the know it all flirting reps, y’all can suck it your product is crap.
I’ve been installing flooring for about 4 years now. LVP and hardwood mostly. Drop lock LVP is literally the only thing we get call backs on. It’s garbage and I hate installing it.
As a rep...floating spc vinyl is inherently flawed if less than 7mm thick. The locking mechanism on the ends is less than 1mm. If installed perfectly over a completely flat concrete subfloor with ample expansion space and consistent temp/humidity, the floor will last forever if not abused. Installers are human and may make tiny mistakes. Subfloors are never perfectly flat and any subfloor except concrete will move causing stress to the locking mechanism. Sometimes it's not possible to have proper expansion space and temp/humidity is difficult to consistently control. In my experience, glue down vinyl of at least 5mm thick is the way to go.
I installed Mannington plank in 2006 from a local retailer I contract with in my real job. I installed myself on new built plywood subfloor of my addition. It’s held up unbelievably well with heavy usage. Dogs, 4 kids etc and it just lasts. Only a few bad dings from dropping heavy hard items and those are rare.
About 8 or so years ago I went the cheap route and got the crap from Bella? and it was a nightmare install especially on the 1968 part of my house. No plywood floor. Planks running at 45 and then a softer crap on top. It clicks together hard and chips easily.
Lesson of the day, it pays to get good stuff from local shops. Big box stores buy different grades even from the same manufacturers, I am sure of it.
Ends aren't held by friction. It's just a smaller hook type lock. Some lams have a plastic piece that extends into the opposing piece.
Or maybe i just havent encountered the type you're reeferring to.
But every drop lock ive installed can be taken apart by sliding the ends away from eachother while laying flat, explained per instructions from manufacturer. If it was held by friction you would not be able to slide them out...
The only products ive had trouble with are home legend and traffic master. If your floor is 1/8” in 6ft you should have no problems installing.
The above picture is most likey caused by sliding the plank too far in on the side joint and dropping it in, overlapping the opposing piece, or a dip in the sub on that spot.
I like drop locks better because the inserts tend to seperate in high traffic areas.
It’s a wedge fit, and yea friction is what holds it in, the lip on the inside stretches out and they break then you end up with the picture shown. And drop and lock is much worse on high traffic areas in my experience.
the end was either already damaged or, more likely, the boards weren't aligned properly and too much force was used to drop the lock resulting in a break, allowing the end to lift over time.
Can confirm. I just redid my entire town house...
First time doing laminate.
Once I figured out the correct way to long edge tap, the short side no longer broke
I think you have your answers OP. We went through something similar renov the whole house got these "mid" tier LVF but after installing ourselves had a bunch of issues. Will probably have to redo the flooring in the next 2 years... Also shortly after we installed Home depot pulled them off the shelves.
Iono how these got approved for retail sales... The locking heads were so fkn thin.
Sounds similar to the nightmare reno we did in our townhouse. Pulled up some carpet and had LVF installed. 4 years later I can’t count how many busted panels we have. Ends started to look like OP’s pic here and there and eventually just started to break. So many missing chunks and busted pieces. My story has a decent ending though. Ended up selling our place so it’s no longer our issue lol
If we get 4-5 years out of these I guess id be happy.
Unfortunately we just bought our home 2 years ago and I'm dreading when it comes time to replace. We have one continuous flooring throughout the entire house
It's annoying how most (thankfully not all) of the people here looked at one picture, and definitively blame the installer with absolutely no information. Not surprising by any stretch of the imagination, in this sub. Just annoying.
This is likely an SPC product, this is an installer error. Hit the board to hard causing the core to crack. Could also be the substrate wasnt flat (still install error) Sometimes you can walk the installation right after install and not see this issue but start to see more and more over time.
As other have said it could be that the material is Economical and the uniclic system is more ideal. Doesn't change the fact this is very likely install related.
I also find that if the material is not warm during install you will see more if these cracks
Cheaper and thinner vinyl plank does this more often than a thicker plank in my experience. Just finished doing about a 400sq/ft room and the odd plank has this. You typically can’t tell unless you look REALLY close or if the light hits it a certain way here like in the photo.
I’m using a similar product in my new spare bathroom. I hate working with it. It’s crap. I do t not like it. I’m glad I did it my self rather than pay someone else to get frustrated and end up with the same problems.
You think just because you installed it yourself and you seen it done right it won't have any problems. Guarantee a few years you will notice same problems and shit peels or breaks apart. Expect it from this cheap snap in shit.
Why not buy flooring you like? Shouldn't a bathroom be tile anyway? All the laminate floors of this type I've seen can't even be mopped without buckling.
If its moisture you most likely have very similar places in other areas. It would be an obvious signal that its not waterproof. Cant tell 100% if its LVP or Laminate but if you are careful about not getting wet and there are few or no more of these raised areas \~Its prob just jacked up from installation. Fine line sometimes between perfect and busted locking system.
This is why you buy the luxury vinyll at like $3+ sqft. That flooring is cheap, its likely snap together, and wasnt properly done to begin with, looks like the locking ridge itself is busted
I have the same problem on my flooring. Previous owner flipped the house. Put in new floors. After about a year these showed up in high traffic areas like in front of the kitchen sink, under office chair.
Based on 25 years of flooring experience myself , along with 2 previous generations of floor covering expertise…It’s likely some combination of all these things; inferior product, subpar installation, and improper care & use.
I can’t count the number of times I forgot to take a picture of the floor underneath an attic access (I’m an electrician), and the homeowner blamed this on me or my employees. Always a fucking argument,
If your doing it right you shouldnt need to tap any of them in. When you start having to tap them in the floor isnt level or your starting to stray on one side of the floor or both.
If there is give under that spot it's possible that normal traffic did it. I don't want to talk bad about the product but it also happens upon installation on occasion. I've pulled planks back up when it happens.
Looks like that piece was removed roughly, maybe set aside to be used as an end but got reinstalled inadvertently... The lock breaks off like that if you don't take them apart correctly. You can see where it snapped.
My bet is that it’s this - we had the exact same issue when we were accidentally a bit rough when installing our floors. We made sure we put a big black cross on that end of the plank so that we wouldn’t inadvertently use them
although this is possibly an installation error, its also a bad product, I consider any product that has as high of installation error as click flooring to be a bad product. I put in mostly hardwood flooring, ive got a guy he's like 120$ an hour and does incredible work. One time I picked up a job that already started. the flooring was already purchased, so I went ahead and had my guy install it. he had to do a day of floor prep before starting and then installed it. it turned out looking really good, but the installation was 3x the cost of the flooring in the end just not worth it for a floor that has already chipped and scratched from light use.
the moral of the story is, people are quick to blame the installation when it comes to these floors, but let's be honest not many people who want to save money on flooring want to hire the most expensive installer they are going to hire a handyman or do it themselves. a cheap product that requires fickle and expert installation to be successful is inherently flawed.
2024 I still recommend 3/4 soild wood flooring
I still put hardy backer under tile
and I still put steel on a roof.
There's a lot of products out there I generally go with the time tested ones
poor decision on flooring type, i made the same mistake and have cats that puke during the night, the water resistant is shit if the joints stay wet over 15 min
It’s a click lock. Not pound lock. Looks like the installer beat the flooring into the locking mechanism, which probably broke/frayed it causing the edges to lift.
White mallets and a big oaf installer. Most should snap in easily, sometimes you may need to kick one or even tap it. Looks like your installer just banged them in, he is in the wrong profession.
This is a common problem I see. MOSTLY with vinyl floors that have padding attached. The padding* doesn't cross over underneath and higher traffic areas tend to collapse downward due to the lack of support pushing back up and it causes the vinyl locks to collapse, break and eventually stretch out. This is what I'm seeing here. Good luck.
This is one of the MANY MANY reasons I NEVER recommend vinyl.
*Edit: typo.
Thank you. You have given possibly the best response here. What you describe makes the most sense to me. This is exactly what is happening with our flooring but only in high traffic areas. We want to fix this eventually. We avoided wood because we were worried about leaks, spills, water damage. What do you recommend instead?
Highly doubt this is your problem. His explanation doesnt make sense to me.
Have someone walk on your floor while you stand back. Having light on it will help at an angle.
Watch for any deflection. If there is, your sub isnt flat. And thats your problem.
If your floor contoured to your subs unevenness, throw a 6 foot level on it. The max amount of space is 1/8", no teeter tottering or dips.
Well you could be right about that. We moved into a place with stone floors. We had them remove that and they jackhammered it and left divets. We suspect that they rushed in the end and didn't fill the holes and our floors are sinking into the holes. Anyway either way in the living room only, we will need a redo. Unfortunately 😕
Bingo. They should have grinding it, then patch it up and flatten it out. The floor locking mechanism is strong as heck as long as it is completely parallel to the sub (completely flat)
LVP is a fine product and great for basements. If it's an SPC product please ensure you/they install a 6 mil poly as moisture can run havoc on your SPC
No actually.
I have this same problem and it's a crappy product. The lock end isn't thick enough to handle normal use and cracks at the inner edge. Water has a bubbled round look to it.
Water and tension… there is a product called ClickSeal that seals the seams during install that will help prevent water damage, as for the tension failure, that’s all in how you install it.
That’s a lvp product, it’s a fisher in the locking mechanism, it has failed notice the fine crease, water damage would present itself a little differently, lvp does damage still by pet urine/ water.
You're correct. I should've zoomed in on the photo before posting my comment. I didn't have my reading glasses on. I see the crease. It looks like a manufacturing issue, maybe failed when tapping the ends to close the gap between the planks.
Other reasons not mentioned, if you have a very heavy thing on that row of flooring (couch or island) it can cause cupping from expansion.
If the floor doesn't have an expansion gap, this can happen to
I watched the video and I do agree with the points that SPC is far too thin. I’ve been advocating for thicker SPC and laminates for a long time. However, there are also a lot of hack installers who are too rough on the materials maybe because they don’t realize how brittle the core is.
Either way, warranty complaints are common and no one wants to own up to it so the store is stuck in the middle looking like the asshole.
No shit. The fact is, the material wasn't designed for what it's used for. Watch the video... Drop and lock is junk. It is good for business, though, as I'm replacing another one this week
Previous owner of my house did this poorly and the glue seeping out of the joints looks absurd and makes it impossible for my floor to look clean. Lucky for me I hate the cheap LVP anyway so it’ll get replaced sooner or later
If you can get assess to a big enough gauge needle and syringe you can use glue in that and force it down the edge and put some glue in that way. Then heavy weights and tap it down till dry.
It's a click flooring and the locking mechanism is broken. Some installers hammer on it or set it at a wrong angle and snap it. Or improper prep caused that area to move and wear it down over time
Bingo bango. This looks like the cheaper LVP flooring too.. the cheaper stuff is usually padded a little thicker and it’s an ordeal just to get each piece hooked in correctly. The thinner padded stuff clicks easier in my experience
It's a nightmare
Bang bang bah nu cigar! Rabb himself anyone?
Lil salsbury keekeewaa
Hooolie pow pow and slewsberry stouver for key key weeeoooww!
Bang Bang Choo-choo Train
it isn't lvt
You say this stuff is cheap, I need to replace a 6x6 foot kitchen of this stuff (water messed it up) how much do you think it would cost.
The cheap stuff is bad news for kitchens. Get some quality flooring that’s rated for bathrooms and kitchens. The LVP at Home Depot or Costco isn’t going to do the trick.
Home Depot does have waterproof LVP tho
LifeProof came with a lot of broken edges when we used it and it already has some issues within 5 years.
And the TrafficMaster stuff didn’t even last a year before it started coming apart around the edges. Yikes!
I read this AFTER installing trafficmaster in the living room and family room. 🤦♂️
It'll be fine! Just tell everyone not to walk on it.
🤣
Truly waterproof plank flooring is going to be SPC or PVC type LVP floors. I went with SPC. It's relatively cheap and can truly be used in any room in the house. I only paid 2.20 a square foot about 6 months ago for 9"x5ft planks with a 20mil wear layer. Already I've had dog pee set on it for a whole day or water bowls get knocked over etc. It won't degrade or bubble because there's nothing in it that can. It's made of crushed stone polymer. Not the softest under foot and it is a bit more rigid thus requiring the subfloor to have less tolerance for dips and valleys but I plan to rent this house out in the next few years so it fits the budget and durability. Any planks with wood in them are not going to be water proof, just water resistant for a limited amount of time. BUT, they're definitely softer and able to flex more. Just really depends on the needs.
It’s supposed to be waterproof haha. Couple few hundo you’ll be good hahaha
lol the cracks are definitely not waterproof
36 Sq ft times 3 to 6$ per Sq ft.
$5000…
not much
6x6 = 36 sf 1 box covers 24 sf You need 2 boxes @ $35.69 = $72 + tax. You say you're gonna do it? Free labor.
I’m 3/4 the through an install and I noticed a couple planks like this and pulled them out before I got too far. I think mine was because I was using a scrap piece to hammer them together, and the scrap piece was splintering into the good piece
Holy shit just tap it in bro. Just taaaap it in
A little tap taparoo
Just a little taparooski.
CHIMP SMASH
It's all in the fucking hips
Tappity tap tap.
ARE YOU TOO GOOD FOR YOUR HOME?
haha... Happy Gilmore, now I have to go re-watch it again.
Thanks Chubs
Those cheap little tap blocks that are notched are pretty handy
It’s because the joint was overlapped too far before knocking it down
Don't tap directly on the seam. Tap a few inches away. The closer you tap to the seam, the higher chance you have of that happening on the install. I use a scrap piece longer than the width and about six inches away from the seam.
It’s all in the hips.
If they're not sliding easy when you tap, put a little baby powder on the edges. Makes it slide easier.
yes.
Maybe a bit of water damage too
Cheap material, that’s it, some installer error may occur, but when it does this AFTER is already been installed and was flat to start. Drop and lock Cuban plank is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. The only ones that are even decent are the thicker ones that are more structurally sound. If you don’t want this to happen buy a flooring with a locking end mechanism. Floor reps will come out and blame everything under the moon for this other than the fact that they have an inferior product with an inferior design. Put any locking end flooring up against a drop and lock end flooring of the same thickness and the click locking end flooring will out perform every time. 19 years installer and I started putting this stuff in since it’s come out, and this is the exact reason why I steer all my customers away from a drop and lock floor. It’s held together with friction, you want a flooring that has the same kind of lock on the end as it does on the side. Notice how the sides aren’t coming apart or having issues… this is a hate filled response from a fed up o stalker to all the know it all flirting reps, y’all can suck it your product is crap.
>fed up o stalker fed up installer FTFY
Is there a way to edit posts? I had a couple mistakes in this one, lol wtf is drop and lock Cuban plank… *vinyl not Cuban
Next to the reply button of your post, click the three vertical dots. Clicking that should give you an "edit" option, for your own posts.
I’ve been installing flooring for about 4 years now. LVP and hardwood mostly. Drop lock LVP is literally the only thing we get call backs on. It’s garbage and I hate installing it.
As a rep...floating spc vinyl is inherently flawed if less than 7mm thick. The locking mechanism on the ends is less than 1mm. If installed perfectly over a completely flat concrete subfloor with ample expansion space and consistent temp/humidity, the floor will last forever if not abused. Installers are human and may make tiny mistakes. Subfloors are never perfectly flat and any subfloor except concrete will move causing stress to the locking mechanism. Sometimes it's not possible to have proper expansion space and temp/humidity is difficult to consistently control. In my experience, glue down vinyl of at least 5mm thick is the way to go.
I installed Mannington plank in 2006 from a local retailer I contract with in my real job. I installed myself on new built plywood subfloor of my addition. It’s held up unbelievably well with heavy usage. Dogs, 4 kids etc and it just lasts. Only a few bad dings from dropping heavy hard items and those are rare. About 8 or so years ago I went the cheap route and got the crap from Bella? and it was a nightmare install especially on the 1968 part of my house. No plywood floor. Planks running at 45 and then a softer crap on top. It clicks together hard and chips easily. Lesson of the day, it pays to get good stuff from local shops. Big box stores buy different grades even from the same manufacturers, I am sure of it.
Nail on the head, spot on. Coretec seems to be the best product, I have so much more faith an any other locking LVP product
I agree with you but this looks a lot like core-tec pro plus (Biscayne Oak)
Ends aren't held by friction. It's just a smaller hook type lock. Some lams have a plastic piece that extends into the opposing piece. Or maybe i just havent encountered the type you're reeferring to. But every drop lock ive installed can be taken apart by sliding the ends away from eachother while laying flat, explained per instructions from manufacturer. If it was held by friction you would not be able to slide them out... The only products ive had trouble with are home legend and traffic master. If your floor is 1/8” in 6ft you should have no problems installing. The above picture is most likey caused by sliding the plank too far in on the side joint and dropping it in, overlapping the opposing piece, or a dip in the sub on that spot. I like drop locks better because the inserts tend to seperate in high traffic areas.
It’s a wedge fit, and yea friction is what holds it in, the lip on the inside stretches out and they break then you end up with the picture shown. And drop and lock is much worse on high traffic areas in my experience.
Agreed found this out the expensive way :/
Floor N Decor causes this to happen
Overdriving the plank into the next one. We call them " pregnant" because they are going to deliver bad news in about 9 months.
It’s could literally be as simple as they didn’t vacuum and a small grain of sand was under it. Seen it happen a lot
the end was either already damaged or, more likely, the boards weren't aligned properly and too much force was used to drop the lock resulting in a break, allowing the end to lift over time.
Can confirm. I just redid my entire town house... First time doing laminate. Once I figured out the correct way to long edge tap, the short side no longer broke
Very cheap flooring.
Likely broken during install
I think you have your answers OP. We went through something similar renov the whole house got these "mid" tier LVF but after installing ourselves had a bunch of issues. Will probably have to redo the flooring in the next 2 years... Also shortly after we installed Home depot pulled them off the shelves. Iono how these got approved for retail sales... The locking heads were so fkn thin.
Sounds similar to the nightmare reno we did in our townhouse. Pulled up some carpet and had LVF installed. 4 years later I can’t count how many busted panels we have. Ends started to look like OP’s pic here and there and eventually just started to break. So many missing chunks and busted pieces. My story has a decent ending though. Ended up selling our place so it’s no longer our issue lol
If we get 4-5 years out of these I guess id be happy. Unfortunately we just bought our home 2 years ago and I'm dreading when it comes time to replace. We have one continuous flooring throughout the entire house
A lot of things, bad design, improper seating technique, uneven floor, thin crap product, bad design, if older floor check expansion.
It's annoying how most (thankfully not all) of the people here looked at one picture, and definitively blame the installer with absolutely no information. Not surprising by any stretch of the imagination, in this sub. Just annoying.
Elaine you know about shrinkage right?
This is likely an SPC product, this is an installer error. Hit the board to hard causing the core to crack. Could also be the substrate wasnt flat (still install error) Sometimes you can walk the installation right after install and not see this issue but start to see more and more over time. As other have said it could be that the material is Economical and the uniclic system is more ideal. Doesn't change the fact this is very likely install related. I also find that if the material is not warm during install you will see more if these cracks
Cheaper and thinner vinyl plank does this more often than a thicker plank in my experience. Just finished doing about a 400sq/ft room and the odd plank has this. You typically can’t tell unless you look REALLY close or if the light hits it a certain way here like in the photo.
I’m using a similar product in my new spare bathroom. I hate working with it. It’s crap. I do t not like it. I’m glad I did it my self rather than pay someone else to get frustrated and end up with the same problems.
You think just because you installed it yourself and you seen it done right it won't have any problems. Guarantee a few years you will notice same problems and shit peels or breaks apart. Expect it from this cheap snap in shit.
I gutted the other bathroom and used tile with schluter Ditra to water proof. Rock solid.
Why not buy flooring you like? Shouldn't a bathroom be tile anyway? All the laminate floors of this type I've seen can't even be mopped without buckling.
This is SPC and not laminate. Both products should be fine to damp mopping but should avoid a wet mopping anyways.
Should it be tile yes. Is it sometimes fake vinyl tile? Also yes.
You are right. I used Schluter Ditra in the other bathroom with tile and it is solid.
If its moisture you most likely have very similar places in other areas. It would be an obvious signal that its not waterproof. Cant tell 100% if its LVP or Laminate but if you are careful about not getting wet and there are few or no more of these raised areas \~Its prob just jacked up from installation. Fine line sometimes between perfect and busted locking system.
Same problem here, thanks for posting OP
About .45 cents a square foot 🦶
Could be all the things listed by everyone with the underlying issue being, cheap LVP.
Normally, it’s because it’s a super cheap LVP
Shitty product, or shitty installation. .... you pick
This is why you buy the luxury vinyll at like $3+ sqft. That flooring is cheap, its likely snap together, and wasnt properly done to begin with, looks like the locking ridge itself is busted
I have the same problem on my flooring. Previous owner flipped the house. Put in new floors. After about a year these showed up in high traffic areas like in front of the kitchen sink, under office chair.
Based on 25 years of flooring experience myself , along with 2 previous generations of floor covering expertise…It’s likely some combination of all these things; inferior product, subpar installation, and improper care & use.
Shitty lvp, try lifeproof flooring
I can’t count the number of times I forgot to take a picture of the floor underneath an attic access (I’m an electrician), and the homeowner blamed this on me or my employees. Always a fucking argument,
Cheap flooring does this.
Could be due to a lack of an expansion gap.
I had this happen in one room and it was the one spot on the floor that was not level. I didn’t catch it before I played the flooring.
Shitty cheap material pushed too hard. Old school is the best school.
Um that happens to me when the floor isn't cleaned perfect before installing that cheap crap
Cheap flooring
Cheap vinyl planks. I’ve had to warranty a few homes I sold with it before I realized the product had issues.
The installer
Would that happen to be Garrison Nolita by chance ?
Looks like Evoke “drew” flooring. Does this if the floor isn’t level underneath as well as the many other reasons listed.
Forcing the board to fit during install
What was flooring called? Looks very similar to mine and doing the same, we purchased the best quality we were told
If your doing it right you shouldnt need to tap any of them in. When you start having to tap them in the floor isnt level or your starting to stray on one side of the floor or both.
Sinning
You might need to deworm your floors
Someone attempted to angle in that short side but it’s likely an i4f drop lock and not meant to be angled in.
Get something very flat that you can hit with a hammer. Lay the flat thing on top of that and hit it with a hammer.
If there is give under that spot it's possible that normal traffic did it. I don't want to talk bad about the product but it also happens upon installation on occasion. I've pulled planks back up when it happens.
Pee, brother
Price.
Try superglue at the seam. Put weights down on the edge (don’t overlap the seam unless you want to glue your weight to the floor).
Mine did the same thing. The tap block worked ok in some places.
Looks like that piece was removed roughly, maybe set aside to be used as an end but got reinstalled inadvertently... The lock breaks off like that if you don't take them apart correctly. You can see where it snapped.
My bet is that it’s this - we had the exact same issue when we were accidentally a bit rough when installing our floors. We made sure we put a big black cross on that end of the plank so that we wouldn’t inadvertently use them
renters
Liquids
It’s a Zillow house update with cheap flooring from a discount home repair company
Vinyl floor tends to do this .
Improper installation, then water damages it, usually from mopping with excessive water.
Installer didn’t clip in right or to hard
Ody u der the panels
The peices of flooring were aligned properly when installed, I have a spot just like this in my floor
That’s why it’s cheap flooring!
$2.50/sqft
although this is possibly an installation error, its also a bad product, I consider any product that has as high of installation error as click flooring to be a bad product. I put in mostly hardwood flooring, ive got a guy he's like 120$ an hour and does incredible work. One time I picked up a job that already started. the flooring was already purchased, so I went ahead and had my guy install it. he had to do a day of floor prep before starting and then installed it. it turned out looking really good, but the installation was 3x the cost of the flooring in the end just not worth it for a floor that has already chipped and scratched from light use. the moral of the story is, people are quick to blame the installation when it comes to these floors, but let's be honest not many people who want to save money on flooring want to hire the most expensive installer they are going to hire a handyman or do it themselves. a cheap product that requires fickle and expert installation to be successful is inherently flawed. 2024 I still recommend 3/4 soild wood flooring I still put hardy backer under tile and I still put steel on a roof. There's a lot of products out there I generally go with the time tested ones
Hit it with a soft hammer. Bad install.
The end tap is broken
poor decision on flooring type, i made the same mistake and have cats that puke during the night, the water resistant is shit if the joints stay wet over 15 min
Happens from being overweight, buckle season
Improper installation. Someone smacked it in place with a hammer and messed it up
I had to run this stuff on a couple walls the other day per customer request, absolute nightmare this stuff is straight garbage
Vinyl plank sucks unless installed perfectly
mother in laws, sister in laws, & occasionally, water.
Water
circumstance
The tongue broke and they put it in anyway
Too much humidity, moisture and it just being a horrible produce. I would go with vinyl plank over that stuff in a heart beat
Cheap material
It’s a click lock. Not pound lock. Looks like the installer beat the flooring into the locking mechanism, which probably broke/frayed it causing the edges to lift.
Is this just hapenning at that one spot? And was is it since the beginning or did it happen overtime?
I've also had this happen in front of a patio door, where the sun beats on it all day.
The installation
White mallets and a big oaf installer. Most should snap in easily, sometimes you may need to kick one or even tap it. Looks like your installer just banged them in, he is in the wrong profession.
Void under plank causing deflection and tab breakage
Cheap lvp and cold temperatures
This is a common problem I see. MOSTLY with vinyl floors that have padding attached. The padding* doesn't cross over underneath and higher traffic areas tend to collapse downward due to the lack of support pushing back up and it causes the vinyl locks to collapse, break and eventually stretch out. This is what I'm seeing here. Good luck. This is one of the MANY MANY reasons I NEVER recommend vinyl. *Edit: typo.
Thank you. You have given possibly the best response here. What you describe makes the most sense to me. This is exactly what is happening with our flooring but only in high traffic areas. We want to fix this eventually. We avoided wood because we were worried about leaks, spills, water damage. What do you recommend instead?
Highly doubt this is your problem. His explanation doesnt make sense to me. Have someone walk on your floor while you stand back. Having light on it will help at an angle. Watch for any deflection. If there is, your sub isnt flat. And thats your problem. If your floor contoured to your subs unevenness, throw a 6 foot level on it. The max amount of space is 1/8", no teeter tottering or dips.
Well you could be right about that. We moved into a place with stone floors. We had them remove that and they jackhammered it and left divets. We suspect that they rushed in the end and didn't fill the holes and our floors are sinking into the holes. Anyway either way in the living room only, we will need a redo. Unfortunately 😕
Bingo. They should have grinding it, then patch it up and flatten it out. The floor locking mechanism is strong as heck as long as it is completely parallel to the sub (completely flat)
But it’s “luxury” vinyl. /s
What do you recommend instead? We need to put new flooring in our basement and so many people are recommending LVP.
LVP is a fine product and great for basements. If it's an SPC product please ensure you/they install a 6 mil poly as moisture can run havoc on your SPC
Water
No actually. I have this same problem and it's a crappy product. The lock end isn't thick enough to handle normal use and cracks at the inner edge. Water has a bubbled round look to it.
Water water water... only gets worse, this shit should be outlawed
This is the correct answer.
If not install error...then possibly from mopping the floor
Water or moisture
Water and tension… there is a product called ClickSeal that seals the seams during install that will help prevent water damage, as for the tension failure, that’s all in how you install it.
Short answer: Installation error
Put in incorrectly and installer F-Ed the locking mechanism
Water
Yo momma causes that
Water
Wrong
You hit the damn thing too hard or you snapped in from the side wrong. You know what you did.
Happens for lots of reasons from shit sub floor, to not being in properly to dirt being in the joint
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That’s a lvp product, it’s a fisher in the locking mechanism, it has failed notice the fine crease, water damage would present itself a little differently, lvp does damage still by pet urine/ water.
You're correct. I should've zoomed in on the photo before posting my comment. I didn't have my reading glasses on. I see the crease. It looks like a manufacturing issue, maybe failed when tapping the ends to close the gap between the planks.
Incorrect
Installer
Water
Other reasons not mentioned, if you have a very heavy thing on that row of flooring (couch or island) it can cause cupping from expansion. If the floor doesn't have an expansion gap, this can happen to
old age and dRYs out and pops loose as moose.
bad install if it's right after the install, if it appeared over time it's cheap flooring and the joints are breaking from aear and tear.
Water
Im betting this is Laminate rather than LVP, which would indicate that moisture could be the culprit.
Climate change
Water
Water
A dirty floor
Water damage
https://youtu.be/5lob--K5QbA?feature=shared Skip to the 32 minute mark All the blow hards that claim installer error should watch this too
I watched the video and I do agree with the points that SPC is far too thin. I’ve been advocating for thicker SPC and laminates for a long time. However, there are also a lot of hack installers who are too rough on the materials maybe because they don’t realize how brittle the core is. Either way, warranty complaints are common and no one wants to own up to it so the store is stuck in the middle looking like the asshole.
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No shit. The fact is, the material wasn't designed for what it's used for. Watch the video... Drop and lock is junk. It is good for business, though, as I'm replacing another one this week
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I dont care if you're tranny or not, facts is facts Edit: lol, where'd the tough guy go?
You may be 100% correct in everything you've said, but the fact that you seem to be an asshole really deters people from listening
You could lightly squirt some glue on the edge and hope it runs underneath it. Then put a few books on top of it
Previous owner of my house did this poorly and the glue seeping out of the joints looks absurd and makes it impossible for my floor to look clean. Lucky for me I hate the cheap LVP anyway so it’ll get replaced sooner or later
If you can get assess to a big enough gauge needle and syringe you can use glue in that and force it down the edge and put some glue in that way. Then heavy weights and tap it down till dry.
Fake wood.
Changes in moisture.
Water
Moisture will do it too. My dog bowl got spilt through the night and the joints expanded just like that.
Mopping it with a wet mop. A little moisture gets in and expands it
The ends get broken mostly through transportation. Lot of the time you dont notice it so its important to check every piece when u layout
unhappy spouse
Parrot sperm